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My eBook “Think Like a Scientist: Understanding Weather & Climate” is now available through NSTA Press. Learn more about this and other NSTA ebooks for the K-5 classroom here.
Author Archives: MrMusselman
#NSTA 2019 Takeaways
NSTA 2019 marks my sixth national conference and the start to a 51-week countdown to NSTA’s 2020 National Conference in Boston! Plenty of personalized learning opportunities and professional networking happens at an NSTA conference, even if you can only attend … Continue reading
Posted in NGSS, Professional Development, Professional Reflections
Tagged #NSTA19, NSTA, NSTA2020
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What will you share at NSTA 2020?
The due date for submitting proposals to present at NSTA 2020 in Boston is just one month away. Why not share the great learning do you and your students do everyday with the broader science education community? Who wants to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Pathways to Personalization and Science for All Students
Science educators now familiar with the Next Generation Science Standards and the Framework for K-12 Science Education are likely aware of its emphasis on recalibrating science classrooms to be for all students. The NGSS dedicates an entire appendix to this … Continue reading
Posted in NGSS, Professional Reflections
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Coded Communications Thanks to Teacher Collaboration
Time is tight in the elementary schools to meet all the expectations of our state’s science standards. So when opportunities knocks for collaboration with teachers who have face time with students outside of their allotted science time – I answer! … Continue reading
Leading through Celebration of Successes Big and Small
There are many successes that can go unnoticed in our lives everyday. This afternoon I cheered in jubilation upon confirming that, after research via online discussion boards, measuring, catalog flipping, and web browsing… the 36 plastic plastic tubs I purchased … Continue reading
Community Building through Curriculum Mapping
“It takes a village” can be used in several contexts, particularly when it comes to education. While overhauling the Burlington elementary science curriculum the saying has only been reinforced as Wendy Pavlicek and I have leaned on classroom teachers, curriculum … Continue reading
Posted in 6-8, Curriculum, Professional Development, Professional Reflections
Tagged curriculum development
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Incremental Improvement through Student Discourse
Over the summer I took in a rebroadcast of the Freakonomics podcast episode titled, “In Praise of Incrementalism”. The featured authors, economists, and guests of the show touted the power of incremental changes in a world where our attention is … Continue reading
Developing Learning Strands: The Making of a NSTA National Conference – Part 1
It can be a surprise to many (including me!) but a conference as big as the NSTA’s National Conference takes more than two full years to develop. As the chairperson for the upcoming 2020 NSTA National Conference in Boston I joined … Continue reading
My New Favorite Way to Say “Stop Using the Scientific Method”
For generations human civilization presented the model of Earth as flat. Sure, it seemed to work under specific scenarios, like when you stood at a high point and looked out to the horizon. No curve? Must be flat. Model works. … Continue reading
Posted in Professional Reflections
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‘Unoriginal Ideas’ that Improve our “Ability to Share a Message”
In the midst of holiday merry making and Christmas cleanup I was able to take a bite out of my podcast backlog; including several episodes of the “Innovator’s Mindset” MOOC series currently being chewed on by teachers and administrators in … Continue reading
